Pete Davidson is tired of being the butt of the joke on Saturday Night Live. The SNL cast member — whose standup special Pete Davidson: Alive From New York is now available to stream on Netflix — was interviewed by Charlamagne tha God on Monday about his experience on the sketch comedy series, and it sounds like he’s not laughing much at Studio 8H these days. In the candid and often scathing conversation, Davidson said that his relationship with his co-stars on the show is contentious and that he has been eyeing the door for quite some time.
“I personally think I should be done with that show ’cause they make fun of it,” Davidson said in the interview, above. He went on to clarify that it’s not just occasional cheeky winks, either. “I’m like cold open political punchlines. Like, I’m ‘Weekend Update’ jokes … when I’m not there, they’ll be like, ‘He he he, well, Pete’s a f—ing jerkface.’ And you’re like, ‘Whose side are you on?'” he explained. “I have a feeling in that building where I don’t know whose team they’re playing for. If I’m the joke or I’m in on the joke. I really wanted last year to be my last year, but I’m still around and trying to knock it away.”
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One person Davidson did heap praise on during the interview was SNL creator Lorne Michaels. “Lorne’s the sh–. He’s the best and has treated me with nothing but love. He’s like a father figure to me,” Davidson said. However, he didn’t have such kind sentiments to share about anyone else on the show. “As far as everyone else, it’s a cutthroat f—ing show. Everyone’s trying to get their sh– on. Everyone wants to be the next big thing … you’re not going to get coddled over there. They don’t give a f— at the end of the day.”
Davidson went on to explain that part of the reason for the behind-the-scenes animosity is that there’s an ultra-competitive environment at SNL where cast members are routinely convinced that they’ll be fired if they don’t produce. “They’re just wrapped up in their own sh–,” he said. “It’s just like, ‘OK, who’s hosting this week? I gotta get my f—ing duck sketch on … We have so little time, and the f—ing fear of getting fired there your first three years is horrible.”
When asked by Charlamagne whether he’s tried to ask his colleagues to tone down their takes on his personal life, Davidson said he doesn’t want to be a “hypocrite” because that’s just the nature of the show but that he has tried to get them to empathize. However, his discontent extends even further than that. “They think I’m f—ing dumb,” he later said. “I’m literally painted out to be this big, dumb idiot. Even all of my sketches are just me being like, ‘OK. Sure.'”
Davidson is still currently a cast member of Saturday Night Live, which is airing its 45th season, but he indicated that his future on the series remains uncertain. “I think, for what I could do on the show — which is just barely anything — it’s just ‘Weekend Update.’ I feel like I’ve done like 30 of those, and I just feel like, yeah, I’ve done as much as I can over there. But happy to be there as long as Lorne lets me.”
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Davidson isn’t the only person on SNL whose future on the show is unclear. Last week, Variety reported that in his upcoming memoir A Very Punchable Face, “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost admits that he has been considering leaving the show as well but plans to remain in place at least through the 2020 general election cycle.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30/10:30c on NBC.
Source : TVGuide
